Category Archives: Uncategorized
Miami BLC – Weight Room and Locker Room Tour
Ok, here’s the detail on this awesome opportunity. The Miami Blue Line Club is hosting a tour of the facilities at Steve Cady Arena including the all-new weight room! The tour will be held on October 15, but you must register no later than 5 PM on October 8. Here are all the details as provided by the Miami BLC. Go!
MIAMI BLC WEIGHT ROOM AND LOCKER ROOM TOUR
Date: October 15, 2014
Time: Starts at 7:00 PM
Place: Meet in the Goggin Club Lounge
The tour is open to ALL Miami hockey fans, not just BLC members, and there is no cost. Light snacks will be served.
Reservations MUST be made by 5:00 PM on October 8 in one of three ways:
- Sign up at the BLC table at the Fan Appreciation Event this Friday
- Sign up at the BLC booth at either exhibition game (Oct 4 or Oct 5)
- Send an email to ScoutingEvent@miamiblc.org
Please send any questions to ScoutingEvent@miamiblc.org
Equipment Sale!
In case you missed it, and I bet you did, the hockey program is holding an equipment sale. Take a look at what they posted and go support the program!
On September 26, Miami Hockey will hold a pre-season pep rally at 6pm and equipment sale at 645. The equipment sale will feature jerseys, sticks, gloves, socks, some pads (elbows and shoulders mainly), goal equipment and various other gear. Come support the team and pick up some cool gear!!
RedHawks Back in Action with Weekend Set at Western Michigan
KALAMAZOO, MI – After 5 weeks off from NCAA play, Miami gets back at it this weekend, and starts a demanding set of 8 weekends of NCHC play. From here on out, Miami doesn’t play a non-conference game unless they make it to the NCAA tournament. 16 games, 16 NCHC contests, with 1 bye week (1/31-2/1) and the all important conference seeding on the line in the mostly upside-down NCHC.
It’s not going to be an easy for the RedHawks. “It’s nice to have everybody back and healthy again,” Head Coach Enrico Blasi said. “With the exception of Blake Coleman, we’ll have everyone back in our lineup. It’s been a good little mini-camp before we play Western Michigan on Friday. I feel like we’re ready to go now.”
Miami did play the US National Team Development Program (USNTDP) on New Year’s Eve, and dropped that exhibition contest 4-2. Max Cook and Johnny Wingels picked up the goals in the game, Austin Czarnik assisted on each goal, and Jay Williams and Ryan McKay split in net. Williams allowed 2 goals on 15 shots and McKay picked up the loss by allowing the 3rd goal, and the US team scored an empty netter to seal the win. Miami was without Taylor Richart, Riley Barber (playing in the 2014 World Junior Championship in Sweden) and Blake Coleman – three main components of Miami’s roster to this point.
Riley Barber led Team USA as the Captain at the 2014 World Junior Championsihp. (USA Hockey)
Heading into the weekend against the Broncos, Blasi had this to say about the team’s break, and was very complementary regarding their upcoming opponent. “At practice it has been great. The guys had a little bit of fun with [Barber] and we’ve had some good days off the ice where we have done some things together as a team and as a program and those things are always important. [The Broncos] are well coached and they play a good systematic game and they play hard. You’ll have to play your best to play with them and it’s been like that for the last 4 years. These guys understand how to play at a high level. Our rivalry over the last 4 years has been unbelievable – intense, physical games. Their building will be jammed. Their students will be there to give them a real high energy boost. Our conference is pretty good and Western poses a lot of issues. We’ve been preparing hard for a big time battle in our conference and we’ll be ready to go.”
As far as the Broncos go, they are led by Senior Shane Berschbach (a former Miami decommit), who has 8 goals and 15 assists on the year. Junior Frank Slubowski was the Broncos mainstay in net, but Sophomore Lukas Hafner was awarded the Jack Tompkins Trophy as the Great Lakes Invitational’s most valuable player over the holiday break. He sports an impressive 4-2 record, .947 save percentage and 1.26 GAA for a stat line, and has started taking playing time away from Slubowski. He has played in (and won) 3 of the last 4 games for Western, and is likely to see at least split time in net this weekend.
Blake Coleman has been a catalyst for MIami, but will miss this weekend’s play with an upper body injury. (Miami University Athletics)
Blasi reiterated the sentiment about the rest of the season. “There are 16 games left and we won’t look at the standings at all right now. There’s so much hockey left to play and so much that can happen. We’re going to have to play well. Are we where we need to be? Probably not, but are we going to work our tails off to get there? Absolutely.”
The second half test starts Friday and Saturday in Kalamazoo. Both games start at 7:05 PM. According to MURedHawks.com, “an All-Access broadcast will also be available for both contests.” Western Michigan also uses Neulion, so we’re hopeful that the feed will be picked up by the Miami All-Access team for the weekend.
If you’re in town for the weekend, hit us up! I’ll be in the house with a group of RedHawks faithful and you can find us on Twitter by heading to @MiamiHockeyBlog. Enjoy the games!
Miami Falls to Denver 3-1: Quick Thoughts
Last night was a typical Miami showing: fast and furious action from the start, but as we have seen numerous times over the last several weeks, Miami couldn’t get the puck past a red hot goaltender and Miami would lose 3-1. Here are a few thoughts from last night’s action.
- The first period was the domination we are used to seeing, at least for the first 17 minutes. The likes of Austin Czarnik, Sean Kuraly and Alex Gacek had some great opportunities immediately and it seemed that at any minute, Miami could burst through and it would be 3-0 in the blink of an eye. But at the 17:02 mark, Denver countered with a seemingly harmless break up the ice. Ty Loney was credited with the goal, but replays showed that the puck was loose and as Loney and the Miami defender skated towards the net, the puck hit one of their skates and with Ryan McKay moving to his right, the puck redirected to his left and comically drifted into the net as if in slow motion.
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Max Cook has a shot attempt blocked by the Denver Defense. (photo: Miami University Athletics)
After another 53 seconds, it was Denver 2 and Miami nothing after a puck squirted right to Trevor Moore after a Denver faceoff win. The quick shot from the slot was in the back of the net before McKay could do anything about it.
- Miami’s crowd was non-existant physically because of the storm. Not surprising, and highly frustrating, but we’ll try to contain ourselves on that topic. But after these two quick goals, the crowd was mentally not in it as well. When Miami scored, they came roaring back for an exciting 4+ minutes, but when the energy gets released out of that building, it REALLY gets quiet in there.
- Devin Loe looked really nice again last night. He was again matched up with the super-duo of Czarnik and Riley Barber for much of the evening again.
- Denver really plays a tight defensive game. With Sam Brittain standing on his head in net like he did last night, I’m not certain how they allow ANY goals. As it stands, they are 3rd in the country after last night’s games, allowing just 1.80 goals against over their 15 games played.
Last night’s Box Score.
Blake Coleman Status Update
During the second period, Blake Coleman was checked in front of the Miami bench and went down hard. Despite being right next to the door to the bench, Coleman couldn’t get off the ice for some time and never returned to the game. We can speculate all we want, but after seeing the replay a few times, Blake looked to be in a good amount of pain and I’m guessing we’ll get the “day-to-day (upper body injury)” indication on him. The injury had multiple impacts for Miami.
Coleman has been on fire for the RedHawks, but may miss time with some sort of upper body injury sustained last night. (Miami University Athletics)
On the power play, Miami likes to deploy a 5-forward line as their top power play grouping. Usually, that’s Czarnik, Barber, Kuraly, Coleman and a rotating wheel at the 5th spot, but usually filled by Anthony Louis. Matt Caito (Miami’s best offensive defenseman) took his spot on the top PP line. While it isn’t a crushing blow to be without Coleman on the power play, it is a huge benefit to be able to play 5 forwards and have Czarnik be the quarterback (and the main defensive piece) on the power play.
In addition, Riley Barber was double shifting for about half of the game due to Coleman’s absence. Miami doesn’t keep time on ice (TOI) stats like the NHL does, but I’d be willing to guess he and Czarnik were above 25 minutes in ice time last night.
No matter what the status, it’s not likely that Coleman will miss much time. Again, we’re speculating here, but I’m going to venture a guess he won’t play tonight. On many occasions, Blake has taken a big hit, gone off the ice holding something and returned moments later. In my opinion, he appears to be the toughest guy on the roster. The fact that he didn’t return last night speaks volumes on the status of his injury.
After Saturday night’s game, however, Miami plays just once before January 10th and 11th at Western Michigan, and that game is an exhibition against the USNTDP Under-18 team. If Blake misses more than tonight’s game, I’d be shocked. We wish him and his team high 10 goals and 6 assists stat line a speedy return to the lineup.
Tonight’s puck drops at 7:07 pm and can be found on Miami All-Access.
McKay, #8 Miami blank Colgate in Season Opener
Photo: Ryan McKay courtesy MURedHawks.com
Looking completely “as advertised,” Miami freshman netminder Ryan McKay made 24 saves and Blake Coleman added two goals as Miami shutout Colgate 3-0 at Steve Cady Arena on Friday night.
Wearing 90s throwbacks, and the number 35, McKay could have been confused for former Miami goaltender Mark Michaud for those old enough to remember, as he efficiently turned away each Raider chance. McKay comes to Miami with an incredible resume. Playing the last three seasons with Green Bay of the USHL, McKay backstopped the Gamblers to the Clark Cup title in 2011-12 as Green Bay notched a league record 98 points last season. During his time in along the shores of Lake Superior, McKay’s “worst” goals against average was 2.20 and “worst” save percentage was .909 as he was named the recipient of the Dave Peterson Goalie of the Year by USA Hockey and the USHL’s Co-Goaltender of the Year sharing the honor with the Fargo Force’s Zane Gothberg – now with North Dakota. McKay helped the Gamblers reach the Clark Cup finals each year he was on the team winning twice.
Sadly, my review is woefully incomplete because Miami’s new internet partner through IMG Sports’ partnership with Neulion was interweb inept.
The video feed was so terrible that it was unwatchable. For the entire first two periods the feed “skipped” and at that point, I would have settled for the past’s awful quality just to listen to Dave Allen and at least be able to see the action. Hockey is the most important sport on campus. Get it fixed and now because Mike Commodore, and others, pay real American dollars for this stuff.
As for the game, Miami’s many new faces will undoubtedly need time to gel, it’s expected the team will be led by the back end and McKay. But, the offense found a spark from sophomore Blake Coleman who opened the scoring at the 13:02 mark of the first period with assists from senior transfer Marc Hagel and sophomore Alex Wideman. Coleman’s goal was the only one tallied in the first period as Miami took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.
Miami added two goals in the second period as junior Bryon Paulazzo notched his first on an assist from sophomore Austin Czarnik and Coleman would add his second of the night, unassisted, with just 1:15 left in the second to effectively seal the deal.
Typically, Miami was whistled for a game-high nine penalties but killed all eight Colgate powerplay chances. The Raiders did lose freshman forward Mike Borkowski to a game misconduct for contact to the head in the second period but the RedHawks were unable to convert on the ensuing 5-minute major penalty. Miami was 0-for-4 with the man-advantage on the night.
McKay made 12 of his 24 saves in the third period as the Raiders pressed to get back into the game and had this to say about his performance, “I’ll take it any way I can get it, but definitely starting out with a shutout is a nice way to do it. I felt like as a team we played well enough to deserve a shutout tonight,” McKay said. “A lot of these guys I played with along the way when I played in the USHL with Green Bay. That definitely helps the transition part. Our coaching staff also prepared us well for the season.” source: MURedHawks.com
It was the first time in program history that Miami opened a season winning in shutout fashion. Not a bad start for the youngster from Palatine, Ill.
Tonight, the RedHawks look to improve to 2-0 and again host the Colgate Raiders at 7:05pm. Let’s hope Miami IMG and Neulion figure out the interwebs for the betterment of all mankind.
Notes:
Rachel Lewis of Triple Deke Photography has a game photo gallery that can be found HERE.
McKay’s shutout was certainly the first ever for a Miami goaltender in an opener, but I need to do a little more research to determine if it’s the first time a goaltender has made his Miami debut and finished with a shutout.
Blake Coleman now has 14 goals in his first 40 games as a RedHawk.
Junior Bryon Paulazzo’s contribution to the evening is huge. If Miami can get scoring from the California native, that should ease some of the pressure off the sophomores and freshmen.
The RedHawks started nine new-to-the program players including senior transfer Marc Hagel, three freshman defensemen and a freshman goaltender. Wow.
Senior forward Curtis McKenzie was strangely absent from Friday’s lineup.
A new sensation from Oxford
After such a stretch of 5 years with players like Carter Camper, Andy Miele, Vincent LoVerde, Pat Cannone, Connor Knapp, Cody Reichard, Will Weber, Cameron Schilling, Chris Wideman, Alden Hirschfeld, Trent Vogelhuber and Reilly Smith, it’s hard to think of what your favorite program is going to look like for the next 5 years. Last year was certainly a glimpse of what is ahead, as this year’s class of 10 seniors has already moved on. Some have started to make an impression on the minor leagues, and Smith has even got his toe wet in the NHL waters.
But now, as an emerging elite program, a new building, with star recruiting classes, an established “brand” with Enrico Blasi’s Brotherhood and a new conference ahead, we have to come to grips with a strange new reality: early departures.
Of course, we’ve dealt with this to some extent in the past. Tommy Wingels finished his degree shortly after his Junior season in Oxford, and is making his mark with the San Jose Sharks. Reilly Smith had an incredible year on the ice, and it was almost inevitable that we’d see him head to Dallas with a year of NCAA eligibility left on the table.
But these were players we expected. We saw them coming. We knew there was a strong possibility that it would happen, and eventually they left Miami for greener pastures.
In the last week alone, we’ve had one early departure, plus another future RedHawk that won’t even be joining us in Oxford for 1 class, 1 game, 1 practice, or even a “Skate with the Hawks” or autograph night.
Ryan Hartman signs with Plymouth Whalers
2013 commit Ryan Hartman will not be coming to Oxford at all. According to his twitter feed, Harman made the decision to sign with the Plymouth Whalers rather than join the Brotherhood. Hartman is one of 7 U.S. National Team Development Program players to de-commit from their college letters of intent and go other routes this season alone – a disturbing trend to come out of the NTDP.
According to the Whalers website, Hartman was originally selected in the 5th round and 95th overall in the OHL Priority Selection Draft, and is likely to be taken in this year’s NHL draft. Hartman had 22 goals and 12 assists, plus 88 penalty minutes (PIMs) in 52 games with the USNTDP under-17 program, and would have been a nice addition to a RedHawks forward corps that has taken its lumps the last 2 seasons as seniors depart for the professional ranks.
Tyler Biggs not likely to return to Oxford
In addition to the decommitment from Hartman, Tyler Biggs is foregoing his last three years in Oxford for the aforementioned greener pastures. Biggs had a line of 9 goals, 8 assists and 63 penalty minutes in his one year in the Red and White in 37 games played. This was 7th on the team in scoring, and 4th out of the 7 freshmen who saw significant playing time last season
The Cox Ohio Media beat writer for Miami sports Rick Cassano informed us via twitter about some of the details. All of these are from Monday, April 30th:
Miami University freshman forward Tyler Biggs confirms he is leaving Miami University’s hockey program #miamiu
Biggs said his time at Miami was everything he expected and leaves on good terms with head coach Enrico Blasi #miamiu
Biggs could return to Miami if he doesn’t end up signing, but he said that’s not likely #miamiu
Listed at 6′ 3″ and 210 pounds, he has the size that NHL squads are looking for. The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Biggs with the 22nd overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, and this is one of the possible destinations for him if he does finalize his decision to leave Oxford. The other 2 possible destinations are the AHL’s Toronto Marlies (Toronto’s AHL affiliate), or the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. Oshawa drafted Biggs with their 4th round (39th overall) pick int he 2009 OHL Priority Selection draft.
While we are sad to see Tyler go, all of us here at Redskin Warriors wish him the best as he pursues his dream of playing in the NHL. With Enrico Blasi’s great recruiting efforts, we know we will have a great squad of scholar athletes to cheer for in seasons to come. With top caliber talent comes the occasional flight risk, so prepare yourselves RedHawks fans – we will see this happen more and more often as the Brotherhood continues on its path to becoming one of NCAA hockey’s elite teams.
Future Miamians Sieloff, Barber, Hartman named to Team USA U-18
Today, USA Hockey announced the roster for the U.S. Men’s National Under-18 Team that will compete at the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Under-18 Championship from April 12-22, in Brno and Znojmo, Czech Republic.
Among those selected for the squad include three future RedHawks in defenseman Patrick Sieloff (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and forwards Ryan Hartman (West Dundee, Ill.) and Riley Barber (Livonia, Mich.).
Team USA is seeking its fourth consecutive gold medal in the event and features the country’s best young hockey talent.
Congratulations to Patrick, Ryan and Riley on a tremendous honor!
Smith Bolts for Stars
We all knew it was a possibility and it has indeed happened: Reilly Smith has signed a 3 year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Some, if not most saw the writing on the wall after Miami’s early exit from the NCAA tournament with a 4-3 OT loss to UMass-Lowell on Friday night- a game that Smith would most likely wish be kept off of his impressive Miami resume. Some say his mind was made up after the CCHA consolation game last weekend that saw the RedHawks defeat the Bowling Green Falcons at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Nevertheless, the junior captain finished his Miami career with 66 goals and 56 assists for 122 points and is one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. He will join Dallas as the team embarks on a four game roadtrip beginning Monday night in Calgary.
Best of luck to Reilly. He sure was fun to watch during his three years in Oxford.
More to come.
Union, UMass-Lowell and Michigan State
So, at the start of the season, if you knew Miami would be the second seed in the East Regional with these three schools, how many of you would have said “sign me up?”
Well, that’s precisely what the RedHawks have in front of them this weekend as they look to secure their third trip to the Frozen Four in four seasons. When you break it down, there is absolutely no logical reason I can think of why Miami shouldn’t win this regional going away. Sadly though, it doesn’t always turn out that way as we well know.
This region is so ripe for the taking, it’s highly possible the #1 seed in the east, Union, won’t even make it past a well-rested, but certainly not powerful Michigan State program with a new lease on life. After the shellacking Miami put on them in Oxford a few weeks ago, the Spartans had to sweat out the CCHA’s championship weekend awaiting word on whether they’d have an opportunity to continue their year. Unfortunately for the Dutchmen, the Spartans have much to prove and will be well-motivated to send the ECAC champions back to Schenectady empty-handed just like last year and I think they will.
When you look at the River Hawks of Lowell, on paper it’s hard to believe they have 23 wins in what was a down year for Hockey East. Traditionally strong programs Vermont and New Hampshire were down and mediocre squads like UML, Maine and BU were able to compete for a championship with only BC emerging as a true national title threat. Heck, Providence whom Miami destroyed 6-2 at the Denver Cup was a threat in that league this year and dispatched the River Hawks (WTF?) in the Hockey East playoffs in three games. In some of the worst uniforms I’ve ever seen, the tiny Lowell squad is made up of guys I’ve never heard of before. Again, none of this means anything. Miami has traditionally struggled with small, quick (though I have no idea if the River Hawks can skate) Hockey East teams in the past but this year’s edition of the RedHawks has speed and our traditional size to burn. A small, quick team such as Michigan State has had absolutely zero success against Miami this year as evidenced by our 4-0 record against the Spartans. You’d like to think this game is Miami’s to lose, but in a one game format, absolutely anything can, and usually does, happen. And, apparently their best player, someone named Riley Wetmore (12-25-37), a nearly 23 year old junior (good lord), has a broken hand to deal with and his effectiveness will undoubtedly be limited against a Miami squad that can bring physicality on every line. And, their leading scorer, Scott Wilson (16-21-37), is just a freshman who lacks experience in big time games, though he is also advanced in age (20).
Size, speed, experience, goaltending, coaching. They all belong to Miami in this game. The one thing Lowell has in its court is the home ice advantage as I’m sure the River Hawks will feel right at home playing hockey in a dump like Bridgeport.
In looking at this regional, Miami has a Frozen Four run set up nicely. In addition to their advantages over UML, they are 4-0 against Michigan State and would either face the Spartans or Union in the second round who has no scholarship players and plays in the relatively weak ECAC.
Hopefully, the hockey gods look favorably upon RedHawk Nation this weekend and we are fortunate enough to advance. Regardless, it should be an exciting weekend. But, you have to feel like its our time. We’ve endured disappointing regional performances before so that’s always a cautionary point. Yet, this Miami team is peaking at the right time and should come into the weekend with the confidence knowing they’ve been here before, and more importantly, they’ve done this before – which no one else in the region can say. Hell, Lowell hasn’t been to the tournament in 16 years. Miami is led by its 10 seniors and it feels like things are coming together at just the right time.
Go RedHawks!
Don’t let basketball fans have all the fun – BRACKET CONTEST!
First off, before you get to picking your brackets, take a read at College Hockey News’s interview with NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Committee Chair Sean Frazier. While the PairWise is nearly Bible when it comes to the selection process, Frazier weighs in on the selection process and the subjectivity that the committee has.
Secondly, jump over to the CHN Bracket Contest and submit your picks. You saw my picks last night/this morning, and they match up there. Whomever wins the bracket contest from our readers gets the best prize ever.
Here’s a current breakdown of all the picks from NCAA hockey fans like us, as of 1:45PM this afternoon (courtesy: collegehockeynews.com). It seems the RedHawks are instilling a lot of confidence in fans right now, as 54% think Miami will make it to the Frozen Four in Tampa. I can’t say I’m opposed to this one bit.
The Blog of Brotherhood - RedHawks Hockey 
